WtF: The Decline in Scuba Participation

[Eric Sedletzky]

The next few years are likely going to be horrible for the industry. Travel is such a big part of diving... right from new course attendees, to SCUBA and photo gear sales. This pandemic is far from over in most of the world, so relaxed global travel is unlikely to be seen again for several years.

So on top of all of the other challenges facing the industry, I have a bad feeling that the worst is yet to come.

Two words, Local Diving.

 

[TMHeimer]

Two words, Local Diving.

Agree. That's all I've been doing since 2017. Miss those winter months in FL. A dozen or so nice shore sites here but after a while.... I'm sure that is the case in many areas, much worse in some. Travel is important.
Well, I did get my 7 weeks in NYC area in '18 & '19 before the pandemic, but those sites are fewer and less attractive.

 

[VikingDives]

The next few years are likely going to be horrible for the industry. Travel is such a big part of diving... right from new course attendees, to SCUBA and photo gear sales. This pandemic is far from over in most of the world, so relaxed global travel is unlikely to be seen again for several years.

So on top of all of the other challenges facing the industry, I have a bad feeling that the worst is yet to come.

The current scuba industry and retailers are dinosaurs. Imagine someone telling you they'd teach you to be a pilot for only a thousand dollars and then trying to sell you a Learjet. That's your typical scuba retailer. The average distributor won't talk with you or me, because we don't have retail space that we pay thousands a month to maintain. They're in for a reckoning.

There's a generation that been raised on youtube, doordash and online ordering that's about to become the principal wage earners and the T-rex arms of big scuba are trying to hem them into a model that worked 50 years ago. T-rex loses that battle every time.

 

[Scuba Client]

I wanted to publish this over several posts. I wrote it out as a word processing document first, planning to copy/paste it into ScubaBoard, but I discovered that I could only copy/paste a few lines at a time for some reason. That was too much work, so I saved it as a PDF, which is attached here.

There have been too many threads over the years about the decline in scuba participation, but I believe the perspective in this post is different from what I recall in those threads. Those past threads focused on what the scuba industry can do to turn it around, but, sadly, I question if there is much of anything they can do at all.

Scuba has been expensive for decades. It's a fringe dwelling hobby. The fad fades. Another problem is dive outlets, whose only concern is making a quick dollar. Check out how manufacturers are skimping on quality every time they bring out new gear. There just isn't enough used equipment on the market.

 

[lowwall]

Check out how manufacturers are skimping on quality every time they bring out new gear.

Not sure that I agree here. Regs, tanks and masks haven't changed much in the last couple of decades. Fins have improved a bit thanks to more bungee and spring straps, although there are always silly fin options appearing and disappearing. Computers get better over time. BP/W setups haven't changed, except they are starting to become available from the big manufacturers at equally big prices.

What's left, exposure suits and BCDs? I don't follow those enough to know if there's been a decline.

 

[Centrals]

Two words, Local Diving.

Location and location.

It is available locally but I won't bother because Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand are so near.
Too much work for a day of diving in HK; transport, equipment drying afterward etc etc. Space is at its premium in our tiny pigeon hole. And the viz is really suck big time.

Interestingly, in those 4 countries that I had mentioned I seldom met local divers even though their sites are one of the best in the world. Local economy might have something to do with it.

 

[Scuba Client]

Not sure that I agree here. Regs, tanks and masks haven't changed much in the last couple of decades. Fins have improved a bit thanks to more bungee and spring straps, although there are always silly fin options appearing and disappearing. Computers get better over time. BP/W setups haven't changed, except they are starting to become available from the big manufacturers at equally big prices.

What's left, exposure suits and BCDs? I don't follow those enough to know if there's been a decline.

Scubapro's G2 has a single wrist strap that doesn't last. D-rings are coming out in weird designs. Brass eyelets instead of stainless steel. Fin design has been the same for decades but they're using polymers that crack. Wetsuit quality seems to be inferior. You may only get a year's worth of dives before the zipper gives or it begins to leak.

 

[DanBMW]

One word, Baby-boomers..... They started it and they will end it...

 

[scubaozy]

Location and location.

It is available locally but I won't bother because Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand are so near.
Too much work for a day of diving in HK; transport, equipment drying afterward etc etc. Space is at its premium in our tiny pigeon hole. And the viz is really suck big time.

Interestingly, in those 4 countries that I had mentioned I seldom met local divers even though their sites are one of the best in the world. Local economy might have something to do with it.

Agree. I grew up by the Mediterranean and worked in the tropics several years. I can't be bothered to dive in crappy lakes of Berlin. Having lived 15 years in Scandinavia, I am not cold water shy either. I did my bit of cold water teaching as well, but I never thought it was exciting. If it wasn't for teaching, I would not be going into the water for fun with exception of occasional special wreck or ice diving. At this point of my life, I only want to dive in Raja Ampat before it gets the share of the destruction. Stimulus for me is the marine life and diversity. Cold or warm, if I lived somewhere with good marine life, I would do local diving, as well.

Regarding the generations discussion; yesterday German courts made an extraordinary ruling on the rights of the youth and the climate law;
German Constitutional Court said on Thursday that current measures "violate the freedoms of the complainants, some of whom are still very young" because they delay too much of the action needed to reach the Paris targets until after 2030.
News item: German climate change law violates rights, court rules

 

[Searcaigh]

Scuba has been expensive for decades.

That's because you live in Oz, believe me it's much cheaper elsewhere.

That said, it's still not cheap, but if you have good access to shore diving then it can be pretty well reasonable.

When I lived in Saudi in the 80s/90s an air fill was 1 USD and petrol was cheaper than water, You could practically dive the whole of the Saudi Red Sea shoreline for free back then.

Times change though and people get greedy